Temple’s football program is returning to the Big East this fall, sources told CBSSports.com.

The Big East’s presidents voted Wednesday morning to add the Owls as all-sports members, but only Temple’s football program will join in 2012. The Owls’ Olympic sports won’t join the Big East until a year later for the 2013-14 school year.

The Big East officially announced Temple's move in a Wednesday press conference.

A source told CBSSports.com that the Big East will pay for the Owls' $7 million in exit fees. Temple must pay the Mid-American Conference $6 million and the Atlantic 10 $1 million.

Temple was an original member of the Big East’s football conference from 1991-2004 until it was dismissed from the league for not being competitive and unable to meet certain financial requirements.

The Big East already had received a commitment from Temple that the Owls would join the Big East in football in 2012, sources told CBSSports.com last week. But the Big East had its presidents formally rubberstamp it in Wednesday’s meeting in New York.

After Temple’s dismissal from the Big East, the Owls were an independent for two seasons before joining the Mid-American Conference in 2007. Temple will pay the MAC $6 million to leave with less than one year's notice. The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported that amount, which is more than double what MAC by-laws require teams to pay ($2.5 million) with two year’s notice.

Temple also must pay the Atlantic 10, where its Olympic sports compete, $1 million to leave after next season. It would have cost $2 million to leave before this season.

The addition of Temple was crucial for the Big East which needed an eighth football program to replace West Virginia, which joins the Big 12 this summer. Without West Virginia, the Big East’s teams would have had only six conference games each. With Temple, each Big East team will have seven league games – as it has since 2005.

If the Owls take West Virginia’s place on the Big East schedule, the Owls will have Big East home games against Syracuse, Rutgers, Cincinnati and South Florida and league road games at UConn, Pittsburgh and Louisville. The Big East's football schedule should be released in the coming days.

The Big East initially wanted Boise State, which will join the league in 2013, to join the Big East in 2012. However, the Broncos could not afford to pay the approximate $10 million in exit fees to leave the Mountain West and WAC early and the Big East was not willing to pay for the Broncos’ early move, sources told CBSSports.com.

The addition of Temple, which shares its home stadium at Lincoln Financial Field with the Philadelphia Eagles, gives the Big East three teams that play their home games in an NFL stadium. The others are Pittsburgh/Pittsburgh Steelers and South Florida/Tampa Bay Bucs.

The reason Temple's Olympic sports didn't join the Big East until 2013 was for logistical reasons.

"We're using the current year as a transition year in order to analyze what we can by hiring a consultant to explore how we can best exploit the marketplace moving forward," Big East commissioner John Marinatto said. "And as I said earlier, to retain each school's individual identity, a brand that Villanova has worked on for over three decades with the Big East and how to incorporate and associate that with Temple.

"So for the next 12 months, what we're going to do is with the two institutions, the conference's initiative, explore how we best move forward in order to ensure that we accomplish that because it's in the best interest of the conference obviously for the two schools to coexist in a very, very positive way, and one of the things we want to do is ensure that's the case by doing this."

The league will look much different in the 2013-14 school year. The football league could consist of up to 14 schools: Boise State, Cincinnati, UConn, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, San Diego State, SMU, South Florida, Syracuse, Temple and UCF. However, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, who are scheduled to leave for the ACC in 2014, want to exit the Big East in 2013. If they do leave early, it would drop the football membership to 12 schools.

If Pittsburgh and Syracuse remain in the Big East until 2014, the Big East's basketball league in 2013-14 would consist of 20 teams: Cincinnati, UConn, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, SMU, Syracuse, Temple, UCF, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova. That number would be reduced to 18 basketball members if Pittsburgh and Syracuse left early.

Memphis has accepted an offer to join the Big East Conference in all sports in 2013, college football industry sources told CBSSports.com.

The Tigers will join the Big East with three other Conference USA members – Houston, SMU and UCF – for the 2013-14 school year. The Big East also will add Boise State and San Diego State as football-only members in 2013 and Navy in 2015.

Memphis will hold a press conference Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET in the Penny Hardaway Hall of Fame Assembly Room to officially announce the move to the Big East.

When contacted by CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish about the move to the Big East Monday, Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson declined comment.

While the addition of Memphis is for all sports, the Tigers' men's basketball program would help offset the future losses of men’s basketball powers Syracuse, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

When Memphis joins the league, it’s unknown what the Big East’s football and basketball membership will consist of. That’s because West Virginia appears it will join the Big 12 this summer and will not honor the Big East’s 27-month exit requirement. However, both WVU and the Big East have filed lawsuits against each other and a Rhode Island judge ordered the parties into non-binding mediation with a deadline of Thursday.

If West Virginia is allowed to leave early, sources told CBSSports.com that Pittsburgh and Syracuse also would try to leave for the ACC but not until 2013. Although sources said it’s “technically not too late” for Pitt and Syracuse to join the ACC for the 2012 season, the two schools will remain in the Big East in 2012, but would likely negotiate to join the ACC in 2013, a year ahead of schedule.

On Friday, the ACC announced that Pitt would compete in the Coastal Division and Syracuse in the Atlantic Division when it joins the ACC.

ACC commissioner John Swofford would not speculate whether his league would help Pitt and Syracuse financially to leave the Big East before 2014, but told CBSSports.com “our position continues to be that we want to prepare ourselves when they’re ready and it’s appropriate for them to join us.”

If Pitt and Syracuse leave in 2013, then the Big East could be left with 11 football members – Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida, UCF, Houston, SMU, Boise State, San Diego State and Memphis. Also the league would have 17 basketball members: Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida, UCF, Houston, SMU, Memphis, Notre Dame, Marquette, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Villanova, Providence and DePaul.

Now that the 2011 college football season is finally completed – Bobby Hebert’s done ranting about Les Miles, right? – let’s take a look at how smart or, make that clueless, the voters in the Associated Press poll were before the season.

I was one of the 60 voters that participated in the AP poll. Each summer we’re asked to produce a Top 25 out of thin air. And then come January, we discover we’re usually as accurate as a non-fiction piece from James Frey.

Surprisingly, though, this year we did a fairly decent job of predicting the future or, if you prefer, the teams did a decent job of living up to their preseason rankings.

First the good.

We nailed it! Of the AP’s preseason Top 25 teams, three schools – No. 7 Stanford, No. 14 TCU and No. 19 Georgia – finished with the same ranking in the final AP poll.

That leaves seven schools that were ranked in the preseason Top 25 but plummeted out of the rankings by season’s end because (take your pick) they choked under the pressure of a preseason Top 25 ranking, didn’t deserve to be ranked, were overrated, underachieved or all of the above.

We/they totally blew it: Here they are: the not-so-Magnificent Seven teams that were ranked in the preseason Top 25 but ended the season outside the Top 25. No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 16 Notre Dame, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 20 Mississippi State, No. 21 Missouri, No. 22 Florida and No. 23 Auburn all finished out of the Top 25.

We never saw them coming: There were 48 schools that received at least one vote in the preseason Top 25 poll. Yet, there were four schools that did not receive a single preseason vote that still finished in the final top 25: Baylor (finishing No. 13), Kansas State (finishing No. 15), Clemson (finishing No. 22) and Cincinnati (finishing No. 25).

Three other schools received Top 25 preseason votes and were not in the preseason Top 25 but finished in the AP final poll: No. 12 Michigan, No. 18 Houston and No. 20 Southern Miss.

So who were the biggest surprises and disappointments of 2011? Look no further than the Big 12, which had the nation's two most pleasant surprises in Baylor and Kansas State and the nation's biggest disappointment in Texas A&M.

Listed below are the 48 schools that received a vote in the preseason Top 25 and the difference of how many spots better (+) or worse (-) it finished in the final Top 25 rankings. Following the school is each team’s preseason and final ranking. If a school started unranked and finished unranked, it was considered starting/finishing at No. 49.

The Irish plan to remain an independent in football and are confident with the future of the Big East after the league introduced five new members Wednesday. The majority of Notre Dame’s non-football schools compete in the Big East, which allows Notre Dame to be an independent in football.

However, there had been some speculation that because of the league's uncertainty, Notre Dame might be forced to join another conference in football.

“We’re thrilled with the announcement of the Big East’s new members and we think it delivers on the (league’s) stability,” Swarbrick told CBSSports.com. “It’s great news for the Big East and it’s a great home for us for most of our sports.”

The Big East announced Wednesday Boise State and San Diego State would join the league in football-only in 2013 and add Houston, UCF and SMU in all sports. By the Big East remaining together, it allows Notre Dame to compete as a Big East member in virtually all sports but football, while remaining a football independent.

“Father (John) Jenkins was trying to provide leadership to help the Big East navigate through this period of time,” Swarbrick said of Notre Dame’s president. “We welcome the new Big East members and we think it speaks to the future vitality and stability of the Big East.”

With the addition of Houston, UCF and SMU in 2013 and if West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse remain in the league until June 30, 2014 as scheduled, that means during the 2013-14 school year the Big East would have at least 19 basketball members.

“It doesn’t scare me,” Swarbrick said. “You could figure out a way to set up the schedule. The amount of time they’ve spent determining how many teams will play in the Big East tournament is another story. I think it’s manageable.”

Swarbrick said he would defer to the conference whether West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse should be allowed to leave a year early in 2013 when the new members are added.

The biggest question Swarbrick said he gets from the media and when he travels around the country at speaking engagements is whether the Irish will remain an independent in football.

He estimated he speaks each year at between 80-100 Notre Dame clubs or fundraisers in association with a Fighting Irish game.

“You can’t do a Q/A without one of those (questions about if Notre Dame is joining a conference),” Swarbrick said. “They (Notre Dame’s fan base) are pretty clear: they want status quo and national championships.

Bob Elliott, a copy editor at CBSSports.com, did the numbers crunching and discovered the next POTUS only needs to campaign and win the Big East states. Well, that is 15 states after all, including the District of Columbia.

Carrying all 15 states would give the next POTUS the minimum required 270 electoral votes, so don't waste your time campaigning in Iowa - that's Big Ten country. Presidential candidates need to concentrate solely on the Big East.

West Virginia was not included as a Big East state since the Mountaineers are all but officially out the door to the Big 12 - either in 2012 or 2013 or 2014, although Pennsylvania and New York remained as a Big East state because even without Pitt and Syracuse to the ACC there still remains Big East schools in each respective state.

Here's the breakdown of electoral votes by each state with that will have a Big East member in 2013.

For the Big East, losing TCU is another sucker punch to the groin or -- as Illinois’ Jonathan Brown prefers -- a knee to the groin.

Sure technically the Big East never really had TCU since the Horned Frogs weren’t officially joining the league until July 1, 2012, but the loss of what could have been is even more devastating for the Big East.

In the matter of weeks, the Big East has lost Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC and now TCU to the Big 12. And if Missouri leaves for the SEC, sources have told CBSSports.com the Big 12 will likely add three more schools to get to 12 members. At the top of that list, sources said, is Louisville, along with a combination of BYU, West Virginia, Cincinnati or Tulane.

Losing Louisville and West Virginia or Cincinnati would likely be a fatal blow to the Big East's football BCS status. As damaging as these defections are to the Big East, it could have an even greater impact on the behemoth of college football.

Even before man invented fire, the Fighting Irish’s football program has been an independent. And Notre Dame plans on staying an independent until the galaxy explodes -- or until the Big East implodes -- whichever happens first.

So while the Big East’s pulse continues to weaken, Notre Dame could be forced to join a conference. The Fighting Irish have enjoyed the benefit of remaining a football independent, while their non-football sports competed in the Big East. Those days could be numbered.

"Certainly the factors that have contributed to the larger conference realignment continue to exist," Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick told the Associated Press on Wednesday, a day before the news about TCU leaving to the Big 12. "And we’re doing the same thing we’ve done throughout, monitoring them closely, and hoping that the Big East stays a vibrant and successful partner for us."

But if there’s no Big East, then Notre Dame becomes the Holy Grail of college football. The Big 12, the Big Ten, the ACC and the SEC would add the Fighting Irish yesterday. Heck, even the Pac-12’s Larry Scott would find a way to bring the Irish on board if he could.

I’ve maintained that as long as Notre Dame has a conference home to put its non-football or Olympic sports (men’s basketball, women’s basketball, etc.) in it will never join a conference. But things are about to get interesting for Notre Dame.

If the Big East no longer exists, Notre Dame will have two options: Join the Big 12/Big Ten/ACC/SEC as a full member or stay independent in football and join one of those conferences with its non-football sports.

It will depend on how bad Notre Dame cherishes its football independence, because I’m sure one of those four conferences would prefer Notre Dame as a non-football member (and the guarantee of Notre Dame being on those future football schedules) to having Notre Dame in another league.

Before TCU and the Big 12’s announcement on Thursday, Swarbrick said Wednesday Notre Dame needed to continue to support the league.

"They’re [the Big East] working on additions," he said. "You got to wait until the whole picture is shaped to really have a feel for it, for what that option is like. Just continue to support them and be involved in their planning and hope they wind up in a great place.

"It's great to make plans. It’s whether the people you might be interested in or the circumstances will allow you to achieve those plans. But certainly the way the conference is thinking and what it’s trying to achieve are consistent with what I think it needs to do."

That was Swarbrick’s view Wednesday. That all changed Thursday with TCU headed to the Big 12 and there are likely more changes ahead. The question remains: will it be enough to force Notre Dame to give up its independence?

Before the Big East’s meeting of the league’s presidents and athletic directors in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York, someone noticed a familiar face in the hotel: Henry Kissinger.

“Someone joked, he should come up here,” Big East commissioner John Marinatto told CBSSports.com.

However, the former Secretary of State wasn’t needed on Tuesday night – three days after the sudden announcement that Pittsburgh and Syracuse would depart the Big East –when the presidents and athletic directors of the seven remaining Big East football-playing schools gathered.

The league “will be aggressive” in replacing Pittsburgh and Syracuse and the Big East will continue talks with Navy and Air Force as football-only members, an official in the meeting told CBSSports.com. On Tuesday, CBSSports.com reported that Big East was in the final stages of adding Navy as a football-only member before Pitt and Syracuse abruptly left for the ACC. Air Force also was expected to come on board.

Marinatto would not discuss specific expansion candidates, but said “there’s no urgency to expand. We don’t need to make a quick decision. We need to make the right decision.”

Another official that attended the meeting said the league’s members made a commitment to work and stay together.

“It went well,” the official said. “I think those schools that thought they were going somewhere now realize they have no where to go.”

There have been multiple reports than UConn and Rutgers are interested in the ACC. The Newark-Star Ledger also reported Rutgers “had discussions” with the Big Ten. West Virginia also hoped to go to the ACC or SEC, but both leagues indicated they were not interested in the Mountaineers, CBSSports.com reported.

“Part of the purpose of the meeting was getting everyone’s commitment,” Marinatto said. “At some point, you have to take people at their word.”

The presidents and athletic directors from Cincinnati, UConn, Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida, TCU and West Virginia attended the meeting. Marinatto said the membership discussed increasing the withdrawal fee from $5 million.

“I don’t know if there’s a price you can put on for breaking your word and lying,” Marinatto said. “That’s priceless. I don’t know high enough of a figure to charge for being disloyal or untruthful.”

Marinatto also reiterated that the league plans to make Pitt and Syracuse honor the league’s by-laws, which require 27-month notice to withdraw from the league.

“They are with us until June 30, 2014,” Marinatto said. “I think our membership is firm on that. There is no intention of granting [an early] release.”

Marinatto said he was “hurt and disappointed” about Pitt and Syracuse’s decision to leave the league, especially since both schools kept their dealings with the ACC secret until announcing their departure.

“I don’t want to use words that go over the edge,” Marinatto said. “Let’s just say I was very disappointed.”

Representatives from the Big East’s non-football member schools – DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova – were not in attendance. The athletic directors of those schools, with exception of Notre Dame, held a one-hour conference call on Monday morning.

“Everyone was frustrated with the way it [Pitt and Syracuse] went down and the fact no one had any idea Syracuse and Pitt were bailing,” said an official from a Big East’s non-football member school.

That individual added that it appears some of the “basketball schools are willing to leave.”

Marinatto, however, said that he held a conference call with the presidents of the non-football members on Monday.

“I went around the horn and asked each one if they were in support of keeping the conference together,” Marinatto said. “Unanimously they said they support what the football schools want us to do.”

Following the football-member schools meeting, the Big East issued a statement:

“Our membership met this evening and we are committed as a conference to recruit top level BCS caliber institutions with strong athletic and academic histories and traditions. We have been approached by a number of such institutions and will pursue all of our options to make the Big East Conference stronger than it has ever been in both basketball and football.”

Rutgers president Richard McCormick would not comment to the Newark-Star Ledger Tuesday night, but said he felt “very good” about the league’s future. “Certainly from our standpoint.”

PROVO, Utah - Since BYU joined the indepedent ranks, should the Cougars now receive automatic access to a BCS bowl like Notre Dame?

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe says not yet.

“I don’t think we deserve the same access as Notre Dame,” Holmoe said. “I don’t. I just have an incredible amount of respect for Notre Dame. What they have accomplished over decades and decades. I’m not talking 20-30 years, I’m talking about 100.

“The BCS folks brought them in at even keel and I agree with that. They belong. It’s their responsibility once they’re there to continue to be good.”

Leaving the Mountain West should give the Cougars a better shot at reaching a BCS bowl, though, Holmoe said.

“You have to start winning games,” Holmoe said. “TCU, Boise State and Utah – as hard as it is for me to say that – they’ve earned respect of the nation by going to BCS games and winning. I think if we play well – we’re going to have a better schedule now than in the Mountain West – if we can be undefeated with our schedule, we’ll be in a BCS game.”

The Cougars are one of only seven Football Bowl Subdivision programs to win 10 or more games in at least four of the past five seasons. But that won’t mean anything from here on out: especially with future schedules featuring games against Texas, Ole Miss, Utah, Oregon State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and West Virginia.

“If we win, we’ll get noticed and we’ll earn people’s respect and people will take notice,” Holmoe said. “I think we belong in a BCS conference, but I’m not going to kick anybody out and we haven't been invited. There’s reasons we haven’t been invited.”